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0. M. MIL-LEE. Traction-Engine No. 227,441. Patented May 14, 18 80.

UNTTE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OASSIUS M. MILLER, OF CANTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TO 0. AULTMAN 8t 00., OF SAME PLACE.

TRACTION-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 227,441, dated May 11, 1880.

Application filed October 30, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OAssIUs M. MILLER, of Canton, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traction-Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the engine, showing the chain-belt and its connections. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the opposite side, showing the means for operating the brake. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation, showing the connections between the boiler, rear truck-wheels, and axle. Fig. 4 is a detached view, partly in section, showing the connections between the rear axle, counter-shaft, and boiler; and Fig. 5 shows detached views of the swivelconnection at the front of the boiler.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures of the drawings indicate the'same parts. My improvements relate to a farm or traction engine heretofore invented by me, wherein a vertical boiler with an engine attached to its front side is supported by springs from the rear axle of the carrying-wheels, for the purpose of relieving it from the injurious effects of sudden jars during transportation from one place to another.

The boiler is provided with a long curved reach swiveled to-the front truck, and hence the larger part of the weight is supported by the springs from the rear axle. The rear carrying-wheels are driven from a counter-shaft supported by studs upon the rear axle and provided with a fast and loose pinion to engage with gear-wheels on said wheels. The counter-shaft and axle are fixed with respect to each other to preserve the working contact of the gear-wheels and pinions; but the boiler has an independent movement on the springs which are applied to the studs. The counter-shaft also carries differential gearing to compensate for the unequal travel of the carrying-wheels when the machine turns to one side or the other,'and the differential gear is driven from the engine-shaft by suitable gearing and an extension tumbling shaft, for the purpose of compensating for the varying distance between the crank and counter shafts as the boiler rises and falls on the springs.

My present improvements on this engine consist, principally, in the arrangement of a combined vertical and horizontal boiler supported by springs from both the front and rear axles, for the purpose of sustaining its entire weight upon spring-bearings.

I also dispense with the extension tumblingshaft and its connected gearing, and substi- I tute therefor a chain-belt to connect the engine-shaft directly with the differential gearing on the counter-shaft, for the purpose of preventing the connecting medium from being cramped, to resist the free movements of the boiler, to avoid the torsional strain due to the tumbling-shaft, and to provide astronger, more flexible, and cheaper connection than the shaft.

A further improvement consists in the combination of a brake with the engine, so arranged that the brake-shoes shall not move vertically with the boiler on its springs, while the lever and rod for operating the brake-shoes shall partake of its movements.

By this arrangement the brake can be read ily applied from the rising and falling boiler when the rear end of the latter is moving up .80 and down on the rear axle.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the vertical and B the horizontal parts of the boiler, the former supported upon the axle of the rear wheels, 0, and the latter upon the axle of the front wheels, D. The vertical part A carries the furnace, to which access is had from the rear, and the engine is mounted upon the front of said part at or near its junction with the part B. 0

The rear wheels carry gear-wheels E on the inner faces, to engage one with a fast pinion, F, and the other with a loose pinion, G, on the ends of the counter-shaft H, that has its bearingsadjustablymounted upon studsl. Ri's- 5 ing from the rear axle, J, are clips, through which the axle passes, and they are held and adjusted thereon by set-screws K.

The upper ends of the clips above the axle are formed with sockets to receive spiral 10o springs L, and into the base of these sockets the lower ends of the studs are screwed after passing through the coils of the springs. This forms a secure support for the studs and adapts the gears E to properly engage the pinions F G.

M M are two sets of brackets secured to the boiler to fit upon the studs and play freely thereon when the machine is moving over the ground. The lower set, M, are recessed in their under sides around the studs to receive the clip-sockets and springsL, so that the latter shall he held between the upper and lower sockets around the studs, as shown in Fig. 4. The two sockets play upon each other when the machine is moving with the spring between them, and thus form rear spring-bearings for the boiler. Vhen, however, the machine is placed in position for work the two sets of sockets may be locked together to form rigid bearings by setting up the screws N in the side of the socket-brackets M.

0 is the differential gearing mounted upon the counter-shaft, and 1 is the engine-shaft on the boiler. Instead of connecting these parts by an extension tumbling-shaft and bevelgearing, as in my former invention, I employ a chain-belt, P, running over a sprocket-wheel, (9,, on the engine-shaft, and a similar wheel, It, forming the main wheel of the differential gear. By this means the connection is made strong and flexible, yielding more readily than the tumbling-shaft to the movements of the boiler, and is not liable to be cramped and broken, because the strain is lengthwise instead of torsional, as upon the extension-rod.

The forward part, B, of the boiler is supported upon the front truck in the following manner: A cast-metal leg or bracket, S, is secured to the under side of the part B at or near the end, and braced from the center and from the vertical part A by means of rods T T.

The end of the leg is formed with a socket,

W, to fit over a socket, X, formed in a clip attached to the front axle. The socket X contains a spiral spring, Y, covered by a plate, Z, upon which the raised bottom of the socket W bears.

When the machine is moving upon the ground the spring forms an elastic hearing between the sockets, which move upon and are guided by each other. The plate Z is steadied in its socket and prevented from turning by means of two opposite peripheral lugs, to, entering vertical grooves b in the walls of the sockets.

The brake for the traction-wheels is composed of a crank-rod, 0, having brakeshoes I) hung upon its ends over the wheels. The brake-rod turns in bearings E, which are mounted upon the studs and adapted for adjustment thereon by set-screws f, to regulate the bearing of the shoes upon the wheels.

The rod is turned to operate the brake by means of a long rod, G, extending from an tical boilers, as Well as to the combined horizontal and vertical boilers, the object being to prevent the movements of the boiler on its rear springs from affecting the operation of i the brake.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a tractionengine, a chain-belt combined with the engine-shaft, the differential gearing O, the counter-shaft H, and the boiler mounted upon the studs I of the rear axle by means of the spring-bearings, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. A traction-engine in which the boiler is composed of a vertical part, A, and a horizontal part, B, both together forming part of the engine-carriage, and suspended between the front and rear axles by socket-clips and springs within the sockets, arranged substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

3. The rear hearings for the boiler, consisting of the socket-clips J, attached to the rear axle and containing the springs L, the inverted sockets M, attached to the boiler and receiving the lower sockets and their springs, the studs I, screwed into the clips J and passing upward through the springs and inverted sockets, and the upper guide-sockets, M, attached to the boiler to receive the upper ends of the studs, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

4. The front bearing for the boiler, consisting of the socket X, attached to the front axle and containing the spring U and steadyingplate Z, and the socket W, attached to the boiler to receive the socket X, with its springs and steadying-plate, so as to bear upon said plate for compressing the spring beneath it, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

5. The combination of a brake with a traction-engine in which the boiler forms apart of the carriage and is articulated upon the front axle to permit the vertical movement of its rear end on springs that support such end upon the rear axle, said brake being arranged on studs I above the supporting-wheels 0, so that the shoes shall not rise and fall with the boiler, while the brake-lever and connectingrod shall partake of its movements, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

CASSIUS M. MILLER.

Witnesses Guns. J. GO'ISHALL, HENRY O. FOGLE. 

